NHL: West Dundee’s Ryan Hartman learns of trade to Dallas a bit late

Ryan Hartman is aware of the situation.

After some difficulty, the West Dundee native and NHL forward did learn of his trade and impending free agency via satellite phone Tuesday, his father, Craig Hartman, said.

Ryan Hartman had been in the dark while away on a fishing trip in remote northern Canada, apparently without cellphone service. On Friday, the former Blackhawks draft pick tweeted, “Heading off the grid till next Saturday ... if you need me ... leave me a voicemail.” The tweet included a photo of a lake.

On Monday, Hartman was traded from the Philadelphia Flyers to the Dallas Stars. On Tuesday, the Stars decided not to extend Hartman a qualifying offer, meaning he will become a free agent July 1.

Craig Hartman said Ryan’s agent found a way to reach the group’s fishing guide and eventually spoke with Ryan via satellite phone.

“There’s dialogue, but it’s very minimal, and it’s very choppy,” Craig Hartman said. “He is aware of the situation, and his agent is hard at work trying to figure out the next steps. So he’s in good hands.”

Craig Hartman said Ryan always has been into fishing. On this year’s fishing trip, Hartman drove north of Winnipeg and then took a small plane “into some desolate area way up north.”

“This is the time of the year he gets his time away,” Craig Hartman said. “He’s been in the gym all summer, so he wanted to get away for a week and then get back on the ice.”

Ryan Hartman grew up in West Dundee and played for the Crystal Lake Leafs club team for one season before joining the Chicago Mission.

The Blackhawks selected him 30th overall in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. He played parts of four seasons with the Hawks, beginning with his debut in February 2015. The Hawks traded him to Nashville at the trade deadline in 2018. He was traded again at the deadline in 2019, from Nashville to Philadelphia.

Now, he appears to be on his way to free agency.

It’s not the first time Hartman was late in learning of his own trade. When the Hawks traded him in 2018, Hartman’s truck got a flat tire on his way to practice. He called an Uber to take him to the Hawks’ practice facility, only to learn that he had been traded. Hartman still drives the 2001 Ford F-150 that his parents bought him in high school.

“Stuff happens, and you adjust,” Craig Hartman said. “He rolls with the punches pretty well.”